300: Rise Of An Empire (2014)

300: Rise Of An Empire Synopsis

Based on Frank Miller’s latest graphic novel Xerxes and told in the breathtaking visual style of the blockbuster 300, this new chapter of the epic saga takes the action to a fresh battlefield—on the sea—as Greek general Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton) attempts to unite all of Greece by leading the charge that will change the course of the war. 300: Rise of an Empire pits Themistokles against the massive invading Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), and Artemisia (Eva Green), vengeful commander of the Persian navy.

The editors of the site RiffTrax.com isolated this year’s top offenders, and they included several expected duds. Here, then, are the 10 Worst Movies of 2014, according to the people who get paid to heckle bad movies all year long.

While Masters of Sex features a large supporting cast, the show mostly focuses on Masters (Michael Sheen) and Johnson (Lizzy Caplan), as they navigate the waters of putting together an unnaproved university study on sexual behavior. The doctor and his assistant make for an odd couple. She’s kind and smart and puts people at ease, while he has a tendency to make those around him feel wary.

One man is dead and two men are on the run in Texas after a heated argument over the ending of 300: Rise Of An Empire turned deadly. At this point, details are still few and far between, but police are saying that 23-year-old Michael Emerson was run down by two unidentified individuals in a Ford F-150 truck in the parking lot of the Silverado Movie Theater in Tomball.

Last weekend animated feature Mr. Peabody & Sherman took a distant second place to 300: Rise of An Empire, but fortunes were switched this week. Rise fell almost 60%, banking just $19 million for second place while Mr. Peabody & Sherman slipped only 35%, earning $21 million and narrowly edging into the top spot.

There's been a promotional blitz of epic proportions surrounding the release of the 300 sequel 300: Rise of an Empire. The question is whether or not it would be successful enough to confirm the rise of a franchise.

Today, you'll have the chance to join in between the hours of 12 EST/ 9 PST and 5 EST/ 2 PST. At some point during that window, a special code will appear on Cinema Blend's home page. The first person who tweets that code to CB's official Twitter account will win an armload of awesome free things including a tablet!

This week’s marathon is twenty four (and a half!) straight hours of ass-kicking repeat performances. Part one was great, but wait until you see the follow-up! There are kicks and punches, car chases and gunfights, all in this 24 hour salute to following a tough opening act.

Last week I had the chance to attend a press event held in Los Angeles for 300: Rise of an Empire and had the opportunity to sit down one-on-one with the film’s director, Noam Murro. During our conversation he revealed a number of interesting stories and details behind the making of the new film, all of which you can read more about inside!

With a little awards show happening, we have a couple of movies that will most likely not end up on the red carpet next year. But they aren’t without their own merit. We get a little dose of sensationalized history visiting the folks from 300 and Mr. Peabody.

Considering seven separate categories, To 3D Or Not To 3D evaluates the full scope of the 3D viewing experience. Think of it as a consumer's guide for your movie-going, complete with a viewers poll where you can weigh in on how you plan to see 300: Rise of an Empire.

For their 50th entry in this web series, Screen Junkies have taken on Zack Snyder's 300, from its over-the-top machismo to its nonsensical blend of fact and fiction, and its male-to-female nipple ratio.

In the sequel, which is based on a script co-written by Snyder and Kurt Johnstad, audiences will be taken to a story told parallel to the Battle of Thermopylae (as seen with King Leonidas as the Spartan warriors of the first film) and will instead focus on the Athenian hero Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton), who helped unite the forces of Greece against the armies of Persia.

After many years of development, the 300 sequel, 300: Rise of an Empire, is finally nearing its release date. But while we’re still a couple of months away from seeing it in theaters, back in the summer of 2012 I got a special sneak peek at the film when I got to fly to Sofia, Bulgaria and, along with a small group of other movie journalists, had the chance to visit the set.

The story of 300: Rise of An Empire is largely set around the Battle of Artemisium, which was fought between the Greeks and Persians parallel to the Spartan hold at Thermopylae (as seen in the first movie). On the Greek side, Athens general Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) works to lead his people into battle, while fighting for the Persians is Artemisia (Eva Green), the leader of the Persian navy who has a serious grudge against the people of Greece.

The upcoming 300 sequel Rise of An Empire has certainly taken its time getting to theaters, but now that its theatrical release is imminent the marketing team behind the movie is creating and releasing poster designs like there's no tomorrow. Just last month they produced five separate character posters for the movie, each one showing off a different hero or villain...

Santoro is one of the few castmembers from the original 300 who is returning for the Noam Murro-directed sequel, but his role has been significantly enhanced this time around. The film is partially based on an idea that comic book author/artist Frank Miller developed and will tell the origin story of Xerxes as his rise to power over the entire Persian Empire.

300: Rise of an Empire features Stapleton as the legendary Greek hero Themistocles. Fighting in a story parallel to the one in Thermopylae (which was portrayed in the first movie), the protagonist leads his army into a naval battle against the Persian forces that wish to see Greece destroyed.

English actor Jack O' Connell may be best known for playing party animal James Crook on the British teen drama series Skins. Nut underage drinking and neglectful parents aren't the concerns of his latest character.

The new movie is based on a script by Zack Snyder and Kurt Johnstad and tells the story of a battle fought parallel to the events at Thermopylae, as portrayed in the first film. The plot follows Greek General Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) as he faces down the Persian army at sea.

San Diego Comic-Con’s entire programming schedule is filled with great stuff from the film world – tons of which we’ve been seeing all this week – but there’s no question that Saturday is cinema’s biggest day with the throngs of geeks in Hall H. Just about every panel that comes through the convention center’s biggest space today will deliver sneak peeks at some of the biggest blockbusters coming up this year. And the party all starts with Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures showing what they got. God

The entire programming schedule at San Diego Comic-Con is packed with cool panels and general geekiness, but it's really the Saturday schedule that usually stands tall as the best day of the festivities. Last year in the San Diego Convention Center's famous Hall H, audiences were treated with more than a handful of great surprises on Saturday...

300: Rise of an Empire once again delves into the world of fictionalized ancient history to portray the Battle of Artemisium, a naval battle that occurred between Greek and Persian forces at the same time as the Spartan's Battle of Thermopylae. Greek general Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton) is the central character of the tale, working to unite the people of Greece in the battle against the living god Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and Artemesia (Eva Green).

The story centers on the Greek general Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton), who attempts to unite all of Greece and lead them into a naval battle against the on-coming Persian forces. This unfortunately puts him up against the living god and Persian leader Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) as well as Artemesia (Eva Green), the commander of the Persian navy who happens to have a serious grudge against the Greeks.

300: Rise of an Empire has only just begun its marketing campaign, releasing a few stills, a poster, and showing off footage at last month's CinemaCon, but it appears that Warner Bros. will be throwing the brakes on for a while.

While tonight’s presentation from WB did include trailers from Man of Steel, The Hangover Part III, The Conjuring and The Great Gatsby, it was the footage that was shown from August and beyond that made it the most interesting one we’ve seen so far.

The first four words on the poster are “From Producer Zack Snyder,” while Murro’s name isn’t mentioned until the usual director spot near the bottom of the cast and crew listing. Granted, Murro’s only previous film is 2008’s romantic comedy Smart People, but still. I always feel sorry for people who don’t know any better than to realize that producer credits usually mean squat.

Green's presence in the film is interesting, largely because Zack Snyder's film didn't really feature any women in battle. Sure, Lena Headey's Queen Gorgo did play a significant part in the plot, however, she was all the way back in Sparta while King Leonidas and his army were fighting off the invading Persian forces.

Zack Snyder is only serving as a producer on 300: Rise of an Empire, the sequel to the 2006 blockbuster about how the Spartans fought off the Persians at the Battle of Thermopylae, but looking at the first stills released from the movie it would seem that director Noam Murro has done his best to capture the same aesthetic.

The 300 prequel has already gone through two names, including Xerxes and 300: Battle of Artemsia, but now it seems that they have moved things around and the project once again has a new name: 300: Rise of an Empire. The new film is being directed by Smart People helmer Noam Murro and stars Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Rodrigo Santoro, Callan Mulvey and Jack O'Connell.

The sequel to Zack Snyder's 300, which has been called 300: The Battle of Artemisia but may not stay that way, has already gone into production in time to meet its August 2, 2013. But it's taken us this long to figure out what we all kind of already knew for sure-- Gerard Butler

His credits include work on the television series Rush, Home and Away and Heartbreak High. But he appears poised to make the leap to high-profile feature films, and solid work in both Dark Thirty and Artemisia could propel him to Joel Edgerton or Gerard Butler status.

The success of Zack Snyder's 300 actually had a fairly significant impact on film scheduling. Released in early March of 2006, the film showed studios that there was potential in releasing blockbusters that early in the year. In fact, all but one of Snyder's projects have been released on that weekend since. But the sequel to 300, 300: The Battle of Artemisium, isn't being directed by Snyder and apparently won't even have the special release date.

Rodrigo Santoro, who memorably played the kinky and gold-laden Xerxes in Zack Snyder's glossy gore fest 300, has revealed some surprising new details about the film's in-development sequel, 300: Battle of Artemisia. Speaking with Omelete, the What to Expect When You're Expecting star confessed that he may step back into his golden briefs and reprise his role as the Turkish tyrant, saying: "We are talking about it. Let’s see what happens. It’s a long story, my friend. A long story."

Jamie Blackley has signed on to star opposite Sullivan Stapleton. While Stapleton is set to play the menacing Xerxes, who was memorably and strangely portrayed by Rodrigo Santoro in the original, Blackley will take on the role of Calisto, a young man who aspires to be a great and heroic warrior like his father before him.

It’s been nearly five years since Zack Snyder blew all of our minds with the wildly visual and hyper-muscly 300. The stylized effects coupled with the arguably overused slo-mo effects really put Snyder on the map and sparked a ton of interest in the Frank Miller graphic novel. Naturally, since 300 made back its budget in just one weekend, the studio wanted a sequel and so did many fans.

It might be best for all involved. As was sort of hinted at, Edgerton’s not really the kind of guy prepared to open a film to the type of number Artemisia will need to hit to afford all of its costly CGI. Then again, those who’ve seen the actor in films like Animal Kingdom or Warrior know that he’s far more capable of dramatic fare, and we’d hate to see him wasted screaming “This is Artemisia!” in front of a green screen.

The first 300 was a surprise hit, which meant it didn't really need to have any stars because nobody had any expectations for it. But Battle of Aretemisia is a late-breaking attempt to turn 300 into a franchise, so it makes sense for them to seek out someone who is more of a name, even if it's a name as relatively new as Joel Edgerton

Director Noam Murro may have found himself in kind of a pickle as he makes his way up the blockbuster ranks. Since taking the reins of the 300 prequel Xerxes: Battle of Artemisia in mid-July, that production has apparently taken over his life and left him him no time

The follow-up film, which once was titled Xerxes and is based on Frank Miller’s upcoming graphic novel, shifts its focus to the Persian leader who was the antagonist in Snyder’s 2006 battle thriller. Snyder co-wrote the screenplay with his 300 collaborator Kurt Johnstad.

Beyond the new title and Canton's vague, all-but-guaranteed suggestion that Snyder won't be directing -- "I don’t see us waiting two years to make the movie"-- there's not much news here. But the dozens of you waiting to return to the world of 300 without Snyder's direction

Everyone was pretty surprised yesterday when it was announced that Zack Snyder would no longer be directing the 300 sequel, Xerxes and that, instead, Warner Bros. would be giving the project to Guy Ritchie. The story made a lot of sense, as Snyder will be busy directing the next Superman movie and the studio was quite pleased with what Ritchie did with Sherlock Holmes. As logical as the story was, though, it's not happening.

300 creator Frank Miller has written a sequel to his comic turned movie and Warner Bros. is dead set on turning that idea, Xerxes into a sequel. Until recently it seemed like if the project actually happened, 300 director Zack Snyder would be behind it. In fact back in 2010 Snyder actually said he was working on it. But now, out of the blue, it looks like things are going a different direction. Snyder is out, Guy Ritchie may be in.